Separable shipping container



United States Patent D SEPARABLE SHIPPING CONTAINER Nicholas M. Sider,Chicago, and Oscar H. Williamson, Riverside, Ill., assignors toInternational Paper Com pany, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication June 2, 1953, Serial No. 359,066

1 Claim. (Cl. 229457 This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in shipping containers generally and particularly seeks toprovide a novel shipping container fabricated from corrugated board forthe packaging of high density loose articles such as nails or nuts andbolts.

This invention provides a novel shipping container which includes anouter body portion having top and bottom closure flaps and an inneropen-ended liner which fits snugly within the main body portion. The.outer body portion is provided with a continuous line of perforationsextending completely therearound to provide a separation, permittingremoval and replacement of the top section. Through the use of acontainer of this nature it is possible to quickly erect the same, closethe bottom by folding and glueing or otherwise securing the closureflaps, fill and then close the top by folding and glueing the topclosure flaps. unitary package which does not require any externalsecuring devices such as steel straps, yet itis possible to open thepackage easily by breaking the outer body portion thereof along themiddle line of perforations and lifting the top section from itsengagement over the upper portion of the open-ended liner.

A container constructed in accordance with this invention may be usedwith particular advantage in the packaging of nails. Heretofore the nailindustry has required pre-assembled open-top wooden kegs orpre-assembled open-top (i. e., Without integral closures) fibreboardcontainers since the filling and shaking machinery cannot be used withcontainers having closure devices that hang loose during filling.Containers constructed in accordance with this invention can be usedwith existing filling and shaking equipment because the top closureflaps are firmly held against the container walls, purely as the resultof erecting the container, and can be readily freed for folding intoclosure-forming positions. Furthermore, these new containers can easilybe assembled at the filling station with a consequent saving in laborcosts to the user due to the elimination of pre-assembly of closedbottom containers, their storageand delivery to the filling machines.Further savings are effected due to the elimination of heading kegs orstrapping earlier types of fibreboard containers.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide a shippingcontainer fabricated from corrugated board which comprises essentiallyonly two pieces to form a complete container.

Another object of this invention is to provide a con-- This forms acomplete along lines of perforations whereby to hold the to closureflaps down against the container side walls during filling operations.

Another object of this invention is to provide a container of thecharacter stated in which the thickness of the top and bottom closurescan be increased simply by the insertion of pads of corrugated board,one of which would underlie the bottom of the open-ended liner andanother of which would overlie the upper end thereof after filling hasbeen completed. I

With these and other objects in view, the nature of which will be moreapparent, the invention will be more fully understood by reference tothe drawings, the ac; companying detailed description andthe appendedclaims.

In the drawings, r I Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank from which theouter body portion of a container constructed in accordance with thisinvention is formed;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the erected open-ended liner therefor;Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the erectedcontainer preparatory tofilling; Fig. 4 is a perspective viewof the erected, filled and closedcontainer; 7

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the container after the upper portion ofthe outer body thereof has been re- I moved;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the removed portion of the outerbody;'and

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the supplementary end pads which may beemployed.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the invention as illustrated isembodied in a shipping container fabricated from corrugated board andincludes an outer or body section formed from a rectangular blankgenerally indicated at 5. The blank is provided with a plurality ofvertical score lines 6 which define side wall panels 7 and a stitch orglue flap 8. The blank 5 is provided with a lower horizontal score line9 and a plurality of slots 10 to define four bottom closure flaps 11.The blank is also horizontally scored as at 12 near its upper edge todefine the lower limit of top closure flaps. The centerof the upper edgeof the blank 5 is slotted as at 13 and is provided with lines 14 ofperforations slightly offset from the projection of the adjacent scores6 to thereby define four top closure flaps 15. perforations 14 offsetfrom the scores 6 in this manner the possibility of premature tearingalong the perforations during filling operations is minimized since theperforations are not located right at the sharp bend of the corner. Theblank 5 is preferably formed from a single sheet of double-facedcorrugated board and when erected the panel 7 and the glue tab 8 arefolded along the respective score lines 6 to set up the outer portion ofthe container after which opposed pairs of the bottom closure flaps 11are folded towards each other and surface glued or otherwise secured toform the bottom closure. An open-ended liner 16 which is preferablyfabricated from double-walled corrugated board is then inserted withinthe outer container to prepare the con-. tainer for the reception of thenails or other articles to be packaged.

If the packaging system employed by the user of this container includesautomatic filling equipment of such a nature that the top closure flaps15 must be kept out of the way during the filling operations the flaps15 are first folded downwardly and outwardly into juxtaposition with theside wall panels 7 of the blank 5 before the blank is folded intocontainer-forming position. When this is done the perforations 14 willbe positioned in close proximity to associated corners of the outercontainer,

By having the and since the top closure flaps 15 lying on either side oreach line of perforations 14 have not been separated by tearing alongthe line of perforations they will be .held against the sidewalls 6 asshown in Fig.3 of the a n s- After'the container has been filled thetopclosure flaps 15 are freed ,by tearing along the lines ofperforations .14 and tarefolded, into closure-forming position and gluedin place.

In order that ,thefilled package thus formed will withstand the .roughhandling .during shipment and yet be readily Qpenable withoutcausingaspillage of its contents theblank from whichtheouter containerportion is formed is provided .withahorizontal line of perforations 17extending entirely ,thereacross. Obviously, in the erected and closedcontainer the perforations 17 form a 'continuous'line aroun'dthe entirepackage located any desire'd'distance below the top thereof. In order toopen the package it is only necessary for an individual to employ a clawhammer or similar tool to sever the side'panels 7 by sharply hitting thepanels along the line 17 of perforations and then'lift off the entireupper portion of the outer container. The resultant open package appearsas illustrated inFig. 5 of the drawings and the removed top portion isshown in Fig. 6 of the drawrngs.

Whenever a container constructed inaccordance with this invention is tobe employed in connection with the packaging of relatively lightweightor bulky materials it probably will not be necessary to employreinforcing "pads at the top and bottoms thereof. However, when thecontainer is to'be used in connection with the packagingof densematerials such as nails or'nuts and bolts greater strength may bedesirable at the top and bottom closures. In this connection after blank5 has been folded into its erected condition and the bottom closureflapsll thereof have been secured in closure-forming position a pad 18formed from corrugated board or other suitable material and dimensionedto closely correspond to the internal dimensions of the container may beinserted therein at the bottom. Thereafter the open-ended liner 16 isinserted, the'container may then be filled, and another pad 18 may beplaced over the upper end of the liner '16. Thereafter the top closureflaps 15 are folded over and secured as 'hereinbefore described. It is,of course, obvious that when the supplemental end pads are employed theheight of the open-ended liner 16 will be less than the internal heightof the container body by an amount equal .to the combined thicknesses ofthe supplemental pads which are employed in 'order that a properlyproportioned package may result.

It is, of course, apparent that when the packaging system employed bythe user of these containers does not require the holding down of thetop closure flaps 15 during filling operations the upper edge of theblank 5 can be provided with three slots 13 instead of the single slot13 and two lines of perforations indicated. In such instances, ofcourse, the top and bottom closure flaps will all be the same.

While this container has been illustrated with foldable top andbottom'closure flaps it is believed apparent that any other typeof'suitable end :closure may be provided without afiecting the functionof the horizontal line 17 of perforations to permitthe upper portionofthe outer container body to be readily removed.

It is, of course, to be understood that various details of arrangementsand proportions of parts may be modified within the scope of theappended claim.

Weclaim:

A containerfabricated from corrugated board comprising an initiallyone-piece outer body having ,side and end .walls separable alonga lineofperforations formed completely therearoun'cl, bottomeforming closureflaps formed integrally with ,said side and end walls, an openendedliner snugly fitted within said body for the full depth thereof aplurality of downturned flaps formed integrally-with and depending fromthe upper edges of said side and end walls in juxtaposition with theouter faces thereof, opposed adjacent pairs of said downturned flapsbeing formed integrally and adapted to be separated along a line ofperforations extending therebetween and positioned in,.parallelalignment with but slightly offset from the adjacent container cornerwhereby to maintain said upper 'fiaps injuxtaposition with said side andend walls until said container has been filled and to thereafter permitsaid upper flaps to be folded and secured into top closure-formingrelation to form a unitarypackage in'which no relative movement can takeplacebetween said body and said liner.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,140,288 Robinson May 18, 1915 1,809,953 Witte June 16, 1931 2,019,254'Dossena Oct. 29, 1935 2,382,891 McCormick Aug. 14, 1945 2,523,488Williamson Sept. 26, 1950 2,582,502 Nag'ler Jan. 15, 1952 2,718,348Montfort Sept. 20, I955

